The role of the college president in facilitating organizational growth through group learning: A qualitative study of the creation phase in the life-cycle process of a community college foundation.

摘要

Economic pressures are forcing community colleges to generate an increasing portion of their revenue through the public foundation, an alternative funding source. The literature on educational foundations and their fund-raising efforts, the theory of organizational development, and the life-cycle paradigm provide the structural and quantitative framework to examine one such evolving community college foundation. The relationship between organizational setting and characteristics of effective foundations is the focus of this study of The Patrons Association of Southern California Community College, the primary unit of analysis. The study answers the question: How does a community college president facilitate the early growth of a foundation through group learning? A qualitative methodology describes how the college president and the board of directors interact and confront some of the challenges in the foundation's early development. Data, gathered over a 1 1/2-year period, include interviews of all board members, observations of board meetings, and analysis of the documents. The college president facilitates the organization's growth and development through strategies that promote group learning. Group bonding, teacher scripting, and team building help the board members to strengthen the foundation. Product outcomes, changes in group behavior, and changes in individuals' attitudes are evidence of the learning that accompanies the growth of the organization. Two case studies illustrate the interaction of the learning strategies and changes in the organization's development. Internal challenges to continued growth arise from the learning tensions created between what the board members have learned and what new group learning opportunities are raised or left unaddressed. The implications of these challenges for professional practice along with action items are offered. The purpose of the research is to discover the organizational changes that occur as one foundation evolves from its beginnings into an organization attracting growing resources. Insights about the evolution of this type of organizational entity may be applicable to similar institutions embarking on developing some economic independence.